Lost Along The Way
by TorchwoodIanto
Summary: Ianto gets a phonecall that leaves the team wondering
1. Chapter 1

It was a typical Thursday afternoon at the hub. It was raining outside and there had been no rift activity all day. Owen was doing what he usually did: Nothing. Gwen, Tosh, Jack and Ianto on the other hand were playing snap. Jack had just won for the 50th time when the main phone rang. In order to do anything but play snap with the worlds biggest cheat, Gwen leapt to her feet to answer the phone, only to be disappointed when the voice on the other end asked for Ianto Jones, "Ianto, it's for you," she said, walking into the hub confused, "Who is it?" the 25 year old replied, equally confused, "They didn't say. It's a girl though," Ianto took the phone and stared down it like an alien was about to jump out of it. Eventually he said cautiously, "Hello?" The rest of the team watched him nosily, he never got personal calls. He didn't even have a personal life. They didn't know what the girl on the other end of the phone had said to the Welshman, but he instantly relaxed at the first thing she said, "Where are you?" After a short pause he said, "I'll try and pick you up," Putting his hand over the mouthpiece he looked questionally at Jack who nodded, indicating that he could take the rest of the day off to pick up this mysterious girl. When Ianto finished the call by saying "I love you too," Owen raised his eyebrows and mouthed at Gwen, "Love?!" Gwen then laughed as Ianto put the phone back in the cradle, "Who was that?" Came the American voice of Iantos boss,

"Does it matter?" Ianto replied defensively. Jack nodded slowly because, since Lisa, he made an effort to find out more about Iantos personal life, "My sister ok?"

"You have a sister?" Jack said, startled. Maybe a bit too startled because Ianto raised his eyebrows as if to say "See!", grabbed his coat then ran out the door. The rest of the team were left in shock except for Owen, who had taken the liberty of finding Iantos file. He read it out to Gwen, Tosh and Jack, "Ianto Jones born 19th of August 1983, parents deceased. Two sisters: Rhiannon Davies older by 5 years," Owen broke his reading to laugh quietly, "Now this your gonna like: TWIN sister Iola Jones, age 25," Jack let out a low whistle and the girls looked equally surprised, "He kept that quiet didn't he? Do you think that's where he's gone?" asked Tosh,

"Well unless he's gone to pick up his sister who is married with 2 kids, age 30. Yes Tosh, I reckon that may be where he's gone," Owen said with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Ianto pulled up outside the Cardiff train station then made his way through the bustling crowds to platform 9. Standing by the shelter was a beautiful young women with Chesnut Brown hair finishing at her waist with a gentle curl, wearing skinny bluegray denim jeans with a large black belt, a plain white tank top and black beaded necklaces. By her side was a light pink travel case with wheels. Ianto smiled when he saw her, it was so long ago when she left Wales, "I" he said loudly. 'I' was what he called her for short, she called him Yan and he called her I. She turned around quickly, a huge smile forming on her face, "Oh my god Yan!" She ran toward him and hugged him hard. Ianto, taken aback a bit at first at her sudden affection, hugged her back gently until she let go and got her case, "So why are you coming back now?" He asked her jokingly, not expecting to see the smile wipe off her face suddenly, "I, what's the matter?" He said, worried he accidentally made her upset, "I'll tell you later ok Yan?" He nodded then picked up her case and took it to his car.

They arrived at his flat at around 6pm. Tossing his keys onto the side table Ianto said, "Coffee?" The expression on his sisters face soon turned from about to cry any minute to the happiest girl in the world, "God yes! I don't know how I ever lived without it!" Ianto laughed then crossed over to the kitchen to start the kettle, "White, 2 sugars?" He called from the kitchen whilst Iola looked at the carefully arranged videos on his dresser. Iola was the only one who knew for sure why Iantos flat was so tidy, though others did have their suspicions. It's the one thing about them that has always been different, but she got used to it. He has OCD, she doesn't. Simple...ish. Ianto had arrived back in the living room by now with two coffees and a plate of 8 biscuits. Iola took the plate from him, recieving a nod of thanks in return. Setting it on the coffee table she was about to take a biscuit but then remembered she had to eat one at the same time as her brother, to keep the amount of biscuits an even number. They sat down on the navy blue sofa and as the did so Ianto put both the coffees on the table without taking a sip of his own. Iola sighed then rested her head against his shoulder. Ianto had sensed something was wrong since she called him on the phone, but didn't push it. He knew by now when she wanted to be left alone, this was one of those times, "I split up with Aaron," She said suddenly. Aaron O'Connor had been her boyfriend for like...forever. Ianto was mutual friends with the irish boy who had moved to Wales when he was 9 and had shared a few classes with him in secondary school. He tried, and failed, to hide his shock from what his sister had told him, "Why?" He found himself asking. Iola didn't answer, just tensed up and started drinking her coffee. Wrong move, he thought to himself. He let it go and didn't touch the subject again that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto woke up late the next morning. He hadn't slept well and it probably wasn't helped by the fact that he and Iola had stayed up since past midnight watching tv, something that hadn't happened in 5 years. When he finally did awake he walked into the living room and over to the sofa that she slept on last night wearing nothing but his oversized plaid pyjama bottoms. He watched his sister for a bit whilst she slept, her brown hair almost completely covering her face. When he got bored he went over and kicked her legs off the end of the bed, sat down and pulled the covers right up to his chin. The easiest way to wake her up in the mornings was to make her cold. The speed at which it worked made Ianto laugh out loud, "Give 'em back!" She cried out indignantly. Even though she had been living in England for a good 5 years, her welsh accent was still just as strong, "Get up your going to make me late," She opened her eyes and rolled them as if to say, "I don't care," She tried to sleep without the covers but it was hopeless. Within half an hour she was showered and dressed.

"What exactly do you do?" She asked her brother when he came out of his room from changing. His hair was still sticking up from a restless night so while Iola went to find a comb he tried to think of an honest explanation without using the word 'secret' or 'aliens'. When Iola came back and started brushing his hair back into place he decided he didn't care what Jack thought, he was his sister and he was going to tell her the truth, "I work for a secret underground organisation, outside the government and beyond the police fighting alien crime for the good of the human race," He said deadpan. Either she wasn't listening or believed every word he said, but she nodded and said, "Okay," He looked up at her, almost causing the brunette to poke him in the eyes, and raised his eyebrows, "I believe you. Your not no liar and with all the weird stuff that been going on I'm not sure about aliens not existing," He nodded, grateful for her support, "But," God, he knew there would be a but, there always was,

"What?" He said nervously,

"You have to prove it," she said with a wicked gleam in her bright blue eyes that he had seen far too often.

As they walked across the Bay Area Ianto reminded his sister, "Remember you have to stay in the tourist office until I clear it with my boss. I don't want to be getting fired,"

"Yeah yeah whatever," She said in a bored tone. He stopped suddenly and looked at her. A look that said, "I mean it," She nodded sincerely and he pulled his hand out of his pockets and linked it through here arm. She smiled happily and followed him down the stairs towards the tourist office.

Five minutes later, Ianto was walking through the cog door to the hub receiving a few strange looks from his colleagues in the process, "Alright tea-boy how's your sister?" called Owen from the med bay, "Fine..." He replied, uncertain of what Owen was trying to get at, "How old is she? Does she, I don't know, look like you?" Great. He expected them to have looked her up, but now that they had actually done it he found himself angry, "You looked her up?!" He practically shouted at them,

"Woah, don't get stressed tea-boy. We looked YOU up, not her," Owen said holding his hands out defensively. At that moment Jack came out of his office and looked around disappointed, "Aww, I rather hoped you'd bring your sister in so we could meet her," Ianto raised his eyebrows, not sure if he was joking or not, "Well..actually she's upstairs," 3 pairs of eager eyes looked at him expectantly and Ianto gestured towards the stairs, "Be my guest," he sighed. Gwen, Tosh and Jack all ran towards the exit. Ianto and Owen followed behind them with little enthusiasm. Ianto was bored because he already knew her, and Owen was bored because he just didn't care. When the two finally caught up with the others, Jack was standing there flirting with her. Oh great, thought Ianto. Owen joined him and when he first saw Iantos twin sister he couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Wow..." The funny thing was that she was almost indentical to her brother, but so so different at the same time. Sure, they had the same eyes, nose, mouth and hair colour, but she was gorgeous. This worried Owen a little, did this mean if Ianto was slimmer and had long hair and boobs, he would be attracted to the Welshman? Surely not.

"Ianto. We were just saying that maybe we need an extra team member?" Jack called out to him, "No, no, definitely not," Came the reply,

"Sounds like a maybe," Winked Iola, "Oh come on Yan! Pleeeaaaasseeee?" She whined,

"No. If anything happened I'd-" He was cut off by Jack saying,

"Look, Gwen, why dont you take Iola for a walk around the bay and we will talk about this?" Gwen nodded and within a few minutes they had left, "Ianto, we really need a new team member and you were the one who told her about Torchwood in the first place," Ianto shrugged, he couldn't deny that fact, "Fine Jack, but no missions. I swear if something happens to her, being immortal is not going to be a curse anymore," Owen rolled his eyes, "I'm sure she can look after herself," Jack nodded in agreement, "Besides, she's hot," mumbled Owen, so quietly he wasn't even aware that he had said it himself. Ianto heard him though, "You what?" He whispered harshly,

"Tea-boy it was a joke!" Yelled Owen as Ianto chased him down the secret corridor leading to the lift. By the time Jack got there the angry Ianto had already whacked Owen hard around the eye. Jack held Ianto back until Gwen and Iola got back. Sitting down in the hub later, Iola asked him why he hit the doctor, "Because he's a bastard that's why," he said snappily, "Really? I thought he was quite cute," she said quietly,

"No, I, he really isn't. He's bad news," Ianto replied. She just shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him then went to find Jack in the small glass room above the hub.

Pressing her face against the glass, Iola said, "This is truly truly amazing Jack," He laughed. It was a confident laugh that made her feel happy inside, "So. You and Yan? What are you?" Jack could feel this conversation going the way he didn't want it to go, "Are you like boyfriends? Yesterday he said it was complicated," Jack shrugged,

"It is complicated. I mean you can put whatever label on it-" he was cut off by Iola saying, "Do you love him?" Very matter of factly. Jack stopped in his tracks then smiled and she smiled back, "So where have you been for 5 years?" God how did she explain?

"I had a boyfriend and we went to live in England," she finally said,

"Had?" Jack prompted,

"Yeah, Had. We broke up and I had no where to go. Hardly any money. So I got the train to Cardiff and here I am," Jack nodded, believing her story. After all, it was true...almost.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack walked into the archives expecting to find Ianto down by himself logging the important alien artefacts. What he definitely did not expect to find was Iola sobbing into her brothers new suit as he tried to comfort her, "I thought-" she spluttered before she was overcome by another round of sobs, "I know but I'm not," Ianto said soothingly, stroking her hair gently,

"But what will I do now?" She mumbled into his jacket. He shook his head gently and tried again to stop her crying. Jack left the archives confused. What was that all about?

Later in the hub when Jack met up with Ianto he said, "Where's Iola?"

"She went home," Ianto replied. Jack nodded and carefully said,

"Why was she so upset earlier?" Ianto racked his brains, searching for an excuse for her crying like that, "Just upset about...Aaron," Jack nodded but didn't believe a word of it, that didn't fit their conversation. Never mind, it seemed he was not going to get the truth out of Ianto today, "Why don't you go home and see if she's ok?" Ianto nodded gratefully and rushed to get his coat and get out the door. Weird, thought Jack.

Ianto unlocked the door to a dark flat, "I? Where are you?" He called out softly into the darkness. He dropped the keys onto the side table and walked over into the living room. The side lamp was on and she was asleep on the sofa fully clothed. Ianto picked the duvet up from the floor and spread in across her then went into the kitchen and made 2 cups of coffee with the rare possibility she might wake to the smell. He was surprised when she did and passed her the hot mug, "You ok now, I?" He asked. She nodded, sipped her drink then noticed,

"Your home early. Why are you back so soon?" Ianto looked at her worridly and finally said, "Jack knows you were upset," She bolted upright at this and exclaimed, "You told him?!" Ianto shook his head quickly,

"I swear to God I did not," Iola calmed down and took another sip of the delicious coffee, "Well it's over now," she said, her voice full of relief. Ianto wasn't so sure, "You should have told me before, I. I could have helped you," He mumbled. She just put her coffee down and said, "Ianto,"

"Yeah?" He said, surprised she had called him by his full name,

"Leave it," and with that the brunette turned on the tv and flicked it over to Pobol y Cwm. Ianto hated this show. He thought it was honestly the worst show in the world, "You'd rather watch Eastenders, I know," His sister said with a laugh,

"We're not watching that either. How's your welsh?" She shook her head and turned on subtitles, "Rusty," she admitted pulling a face. Iola suddenly looked around the flat and remembered something that Ianto had told her, "Didn't you have a girlfriend?" Ianto sighed, it was only going to be a matter of time before she asked that, "Yes. But she...she died," Ianto could feel the tears welling in his eyes as his sister hugged him tight, regretting she asked. When the pulled away her hair was a little damper than it was before from his tears. Ianto put his around her and she let her head fall on his shoulder. They sat there for a while, talking softly about the 5 years each other had missed with the other. Eventually they got changed into pyjamas and brushed their teeth, "Night I," Ianto said when he had finished, "Night Yan," came the reply as Iola lay on the sofa and pulled the covers up to her chin.

That night she dreamt...

The alarm clock by her bed buzzed uncontrollably at 6am. Pulling her long hair over her face she stuck out a hand to turn it off, "Get up," she heard her twin brother say beside her. Shaking her head he sighed and pulled the covers off her. Her reaction was always priceless. She sat bolt upright immediately and yelled, "I'm up, okay I'm up!" then got out of bed to go to the bathroom. Ianto followed her and gently squirted toothpaste onto his brush whilst she stood on a stool to reach their mums foundation. Squeezing out half of the bottle onto her hands, she began to rub it onto her arms, flinching at the pain of the ugly scars and purpley-green bruises. She tossed the rest of the bottle onto the side counter for her brother to use later. After brushing her teeth and helping Ianto rub the foundation into his arms they quickly dashed downstairs to get breakfast before their dad awoke. Their Mam was already in the kitchen and whispered to them, "Want do you want? Don't tell your father he'll have a hissy fit if he knows I been feeding you brekkie again," Ten minutes later they were finished with their breakfast and at the exact same time their father came stomping down the stairs, "Iola!" He yelled. She looked frantically at her mum and brother who shook their heads, indicating there was nothing they could do, "Where's my cup of tea?" He yelled again,

"I'm sorry I just forgot I will make it now. Please don't hurt me daddy," she said running up the stairs, her voice cracking at the end. Her father snorted and grabbed her by the neck, "What did I say I wanted every morning?" He was holding her too tightly by the neck, so tight she couldn't answer, "I can't hear you," Iola was loosing air and desperately tried to call out, "Right," he father whispered fiercely before throwing her down the stairs. She landed with a thud at the bottom.

Iola woke up frantically tossing and turning, tears running down her face. When she realised where she was her breathing slowed down as she calmed down. The bruises are gone now, but there is still a long white scar that runs down her left arm.


	4. Chapter 4

Iola eventually got off the sofa when the doorbell went. Opening the door she saw Jack standing there in his long military coat. She instantly felt embarrassed that she was only wearing knickers and her brothers white shirt only half buttoned up. Jack didn't seem to mind and looked at the half asleep- half awake 25 year old and asked, "Where's Ianto?"

"Yans asleep. I sort of turned the alarm off," she replied giggling slightly. Jack did note that she was the only person he had heard call Ianto 'Yan'. Jack had tried once but Ianto refused saying that someone else called him that a long time ago and that it brought back bad memories, "Okay. When he gets up tell him he is late for the first time in his life. You are too," He said looking her up and down. She shrugged gently and closed the door. Walking over to her brothers perfectly organised room she yawned. She sat down on the double bed and lay back, hair falling around her like a lions mane. After 5 minutes of just lying there, Ianto eventually registered that she was there and said sleepily, "You're up early," Iola laughed before turning on her side to look at him and say, "Nope. Your just late waking up," He looked at her in disbelief for a second before pushing her out the way and looking at his alarm clock which was blank, "You turned my clock off!" She shrugged and simply said, "I thought you needed some sleep!"

"Get dressed in 5 minutes ok?!" He nearly shouted at her, ignoring her previous comment. Pouting, Iola left the room and was quickly changed in her clothes. When she saw Ianto she almost laughed. His hair was out of place, his tie crooked and he was wearing yesterday's shirt, "Come here," she said quietly, pulling him by the sleeve towards her. Combing his hair back in place and straightening his tie she nodded in approval, "There..." He smiled at her quickly and kissed her on the forehead, "Thank you. I'm not really mad at you,"

When they finally got into work 2 hours late Owen was in the med bay doing nothing And Gwen and Tosh were talking about whatever alien they had just found, "Finally. Bit late aren't you?" Tosh smiled at her best friend,

"Yeah. Sorry," He replied grinning. Jack came out of his office and said to Iola, "So, Iola. What do you do?"

"I'm, well was, a nurse actually," she said, her gaze falling down on the med bay,

"Great. You can be sub medic. Your not allowed out on missions until you have had your field training though," Jacks American accent boomed. Iola yawned,

"Fiiiinnee," she said bored and then skipped down to the med bay, her chestnut hair swaying around her gently.

Owen was glad to see her. He still had a bruised eye from yesterday which Iola was really angry about although he couldn't think why, "Why are you fussing over my eye so much?" He eventually asked her, "Because Ianto did it and I feel bad," Owen shrugged it off,

"He was only looking out for you what's the problem?"

"He shouldn't have used violence. Not after..." She trailed off towards the end. Owen gently picked up a strand of hair that had fell into her face and brushed it aside, "There..." He whispered. Her blue eyes met his brown eyes for a moment until, "Are you actually going to do any work today?" A distinctive welsh accent called down the stairs. Owen immediately turned away from her and said to Ianto, "Yeah. We were just...nothing," Ianto nodded firmly, "Good. Why don't you break a habit of a lifetime and get to work now then?" Iola stood up and looked at her brother,

"Fine. We will now," when he left Iola looked back at Owen, but he turned away. The moment was lost. Iola ran up the metal stairs and grabbed Ianto by the arm, "Your such a bastard sometimes, you know Ianto?" Ianto blinked at her confused,

"What? I don't know what-" he managed to get out before she pushed him against the wall and yelled, "You think you know everything but you don't!" By now the whole team had gathered round out of curiosity, "I, get off please," Ignoring him she shouted again,

"You can be happy but I can't is that it?" Jack stepped in at that point and pulled the furious brunette off her brother, "Iola, calm down," Escaping from the Americans grasp she shouted one last time, "Stay away from me Ianto, seriously," Before running out of the hub and towards the exit leaving everyone baffled. Ianto looked at everyone with a face that said, "What?" and walked off in the opposite direction. As he did, Owen ran toward the cog door shouting briefly at the others, "I'll go after her!"

Owen quickly found Iola sitting on the bay steps hugging her knees and crying silently. He sat down next to her and said, "What was all that about about?" Iola looked him in the face and he could see her eyes glistening with tears, "Don't you see what he's trying to do?" Owen nodded because unfortunately it was perfectly obvious what her over protective brother was trying to do, "Isn't that what brothers do?" Iola thought for a moment then nodded which was when Owen put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. Iola only just realised how bad she was feeling when Owen said, "God it's boiling," and gently took off her long sleeved jacket. Forgetting about the long white scar on her arm, she allowed him to and it was only when she heard a small gasp that she remembered, "Iola how did you get that scar? Did someone hurt you?" Through choked tears she nodded and whispered, "A long time ago," Owen pulled her closer to him until they heard a yell from behind them, "Get you arm off my sister!" Owen turned around, startled, but didn't take his arm off the girl. Oh for gods sake, thought Iola. Why can't he just leave me alone? I have a really bad headache and he seriously isn't making it better. Iola got to her feet quickly and said calmly, "Ianto why can't you just leave it? He was only comforting me," Ianto laughed out loud and said, "Owen doesn't do comforting,"

"He isn't like that!" Iola replied slowly and carefully. Ianto shook his head,

"I can't believe you!" He yelled at her,

"I can't believe YOU!" She yelled louder then put her hand to her head. Iantos look of hatred and disbelief soon turned into one of worry, "What's wrong?" He asked quietly. Iola shook her head then stumbled forward, "I'm fine. Don't worry," she whispered but seconds later she was falling down. Owen caught her in his arms and her brown hair fell across her beautiful face. Owen carried her carefully through the tourist office and onto the med bay where she lay unconscious whilst Ianto bit his nails, scared.


End file.
